Automated mattress deconstruction for Sydney

TIC Mattress Recycling will fast-track the development of Sydney’s first automated mattress deconstruction facility, having recently received $794,000 from the NSW Government Waste Less, Recycle More program.

The news follows TIC’s acquisition of the Newcastle- and Sydney-based mattress recycler Landsavers. The company has also secured an initial supply of about 70,000 mattresses per year for recycling and retained the services of Landsavers’ key operators to assist with further growth in the NSW market.

TIC Mattress Recycling Managing Director Michael Warren noted that mattresses are “readily recyclable”, with the average 30 kg mattress comprising 24–26 kg of recyclable steel, foam and textile.

However, Warren continued, “Anyone involved in this industry knows it has been held back by unsustainable business models, occupational health and safety risks and unethical operators.” He said Australia is currently trailing behind countries such as the US and the UK, whose resource recovery systems are “backed by regulation or strong product stewardship programs”.

Warren said the TIC process will help Australia to stop accepting poor material recovery and WHS practices, ensuring “more material recovery for recycling while minimising risks related to pollution and occupational health and safety”. The system automatically deconstructs up to 60 mattresses per hour, with limited manual handling, and produces streams of steel, foam and textiles.

TIC Mattress Recycling recently started its first automated deconstruction facility in Melbourne, which is expected to be fully operational in the near future. The facility is based on European technology commercialised in the Netherlands and tailored for Australian conditions by TIC.

Warren now looks forward to bringing the technology to Sydney, saying the NSW Government’s support is “a vote of confidence in greater resource recovery and higher standards”.

“This marks a new era which will see increased mattress recovery and recycling which, with appropriate standards and specifications, will deliver triple bottom line benefits,” he said.